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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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The Trump administration is advancing a proposal to scrap a 60-day grace period that allows H-1B visa holders and other foreign workers to remain in the United States after losing their jobs, a change that could leave affected workers with fewer options to remain in legal status following layoffs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday sent the proposal to the White House for regulatory review, according to a federal government filing. If ultimately approved, the change would remove a safeguard that has been in place since 2017.
Under current rules, many workers on employment-based visas can remain in the United States for up to 60 days after losing their jobs, allowing them to find a new employer, seek a different immigration status or make arrangements to leave the country. The proposal would eliminate that window, potentially putting workers at risk of losing legal status more quickly following layoffs.
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Who Is Affected?
The grace period applies to several categories of employment-based visa holders, including workers on H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN, E-1, E-2 and E-3 visas.
Immigration-policy group FWD.us estimates there are about 730,000 H-1B visa holders living in the United States, along with approximately 550,000 dependent family members, underscoring the potential reach of any changes to the program.
H-1B Changes
Since returning to office, the Trump administration has sought to raise costs for employers that hire foreign workers, tighten eligibility requirements, and change how visas are awarded. A plan to impose a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the United States was blocked by federal court in State of California v. Mullin.
Trump officials have also backed replacing the traditional H-1B lottery with a system that would prioritize higher-paid workers. More recently, DHS finalized a rule expanding existing $4,000 and $4,500 biometric screening fees to some H-1B and L-1 visa extension petitions, adding to the costs employers face when retaining foreign workers.
The proposal is still undergoing review and has not yet been published in full. The existing 60-day grace period remains in effect while the rulemaking process moves forward. If approved for publication, the proposal would be published in the Federal Register and opened for public comment before any final decision is made. The full details of the proposal will not be known until the administration releases the text publicly.
The grace period was introduced during the final days of the Obama administration and took effect in 2017 as part of an effort to provide flexibility for highly skilled foreign workers facing job losses.
For H-1B workers, securing a new job after a layoff is only part of the process. A new employer must also agree to sponsor the worker and submit the required immigration filings. Eliminating the grace period could reduce the time available to complete both steps before a worker falls out of status.
What Happens Next
Without the 60-day window, workers who lose their jobs could face greater pressure to quickly find a new sponsor, secure another immigration status, or leave the United States before falling out of status. The proposal remains under review, and the current grace period will stay in effect unless the administration completes the rulemaking process and adopts a final rule.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Matthew Robinson and Robert Greenall
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